We take a look at Square Enix's first foray onto the iPod as a gaming platform …

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Being both a fan of tactical role playing games and an owner of a 5G iPod, I was both surprised and excited when Square Enix revealed, and then subsequently released, Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes on the iTunes music store. But the announcement also led to many questions. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I dove head first into the world of Song Summoner, and learned just how well a SRPG can work on Apple's ubiquitous music player.

At first glance Song Summoners bears a strong resemblance to Squeenix's other SRPG series, Final Fantasy Tactics. And in some ways, they are similar. Both features tiny sprites fighting from a fixed, isometric perspective, as well as a variety of different unit types. But Summoners is also a much more simplified experience.

Instead of taking turns moving individual units, each side gets a chance to move them all at once. This can make battles against weaker opponents extremely easy, as you can simply overwhelm them before they even have a chance to act. This system also removes factors like speed, giving all units an equal opportunity to move. There are other slight changes to the formula as well, such as unit position, which no longer has an affect on hit percentage, as well as other minor differences.

The main hook of Summoners though, is its unique unit creation method. By using the songs in your iPod's library, players create new units, which feature a specific class and skill set depending on the song selected. As odd as it sounds, the process can be strangely addicting. I spent a good chunk of time testing out different genres and styles of music in order to see what kind of soldier I would get. Unfortunately, despite spending a fair amount of time with the unit creation tool, I've yet to determine what characteristics a song must have in order to make a powerful unit.

In traditional RPG fashion, these units can be leveled up by using them in battle. However, unlike more traditional games, they do not gain experience points. Instead, at the end of each battle special spheres are earned, which can then be used to beef up your infantry. But the units don't last forever. Upon creation, each character has a set number of times it can be used, and once that number has been reached, it is gone for good. This makes unit selection and experience allocation all the more important, as you don't want to create a super powered unit only to have it disappear after a few battles.

As an iPod game, the controls are built around the click wheel. This means that menus are circular, allowing for easy navigation, and units are moved by scrolling though the available squares. For the most part, it works surprisingly well, and despite a few hiccups—like having the icons for Move and Wait look extremely similar—it gets the job done.

While the focus of this type of game should be almost entirely on the battles themselves, the story and characters are worth noting if only for being so incredibly annoying. Characters talk in a misguided attempt at being hip, and the text is rife with terrible music themed puns like Tune Troopers and Hip-Hop Monk (not to mention the title).

Tactical RPG fans with the appropriate iPod model (5G, classic or nano with video) really have no reason to miss out on Song Summoner. It has a number of features that make it great for portable gaming—including a very useful auto-save feature and the ability to replay missions after they have been completed—and while it may not be as deep as its console and portable counterparts, the game makes an excellent companion to your favorite album or podcast.